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Monday, February 17, 2014

Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkles


 
The other day I had a craving for some sort of cookies. So, I went to good ole pinterest and searched up a recipe. I found this one and decided to give it a whirl. If I didn't make them myself, I wouldn't know that they were gluten free. They are absolutely delicious.
 
And of course,
you can't have these wonderful chocolate cookies without a cup of coffee. ;)
 
So, without further ado, here is the recipe for these wonderfully delicious cookies:
 
Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkles
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 4 hour 30 minutes
 
Ingredients:
1/2 c vegetable oil
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled
2 c granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 1/2 c Bisquick Gluten Free mix
1/2 c powdered sugar
 
Directions:
  • In a large bowl, mix oil, chocolate, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in Bisuqick mix until dough forms. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours.
 
  • Heat oven to 350 F. Grease cookie sheets with shortening or cooking spray. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll around to coat and shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
 
  • Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly in the center. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. 


Friday, February 14, 2014

Christian Clubs vs. "Christian Clubs"

This is something that God has been teaching me about lately. Going to a public school part time has opened my eyes to many new things. One of those things is what the world calls "Christian Clubs."

Before I go too far, I want to define what I mean by the difference between Christian Clubs and "Christian Clubs":
Christian Clubs - getting together with a group of true Bible-believing Christians to admonish one another and study God's Word
"Christian Clubs" - a group of people that call themselves Christians that get together mainly to have fun, while they might truly be saved, they are not living their lives completely set-apart for Christ

At the moment you are probably thinking, "Ruby, the Bible doesn't say anything against having fun." I'm not saying that having some good old-fashioned fun is bad, but when it gets in the way of a group of believers admonishing one another and studying the Word together, it has taken the wrong place in your life.

Don't get me wrong...theses clubs are great, especially when they are done so openly in this wicked world. But it makes me sad when I go to one of these "Christian Clubs" and realize that not all of the people there are completely sold out for Christ.

After we are saved, God says that we are a new creature:
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new."
 
If we are new creatures, don't you think we ought to get rid of the old habits of our sin nature and take on the habits and likeness of Christ?
 
There are many verses in the Bible that tell us to be set-apart from the evilness of this world.
Romans 12:1-2
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world;
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind;
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect will of God."
 
1 John 2:15-17
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
 
In fact, in James 4:4 is says:
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
 
So to be a friend of the world instead of living a set-apart life for Christ is to be an enemy of God!
 
I know in this world today, it is considered "uncool" to be a set-apart follower of Christ and we are more often than not called fanatics. But, isn't that the least that we could do for Jesus? After all, He did die for us! At any point He could've said, "Nope, this is too painful. Not going to do it." And just like that, He would've been back in Heaven with God the Father, but instead He allowed them to beat Him, spit on Him, and worst of all, nail Him to a cross to die.
 
As Christians, can't we at least stand up for our faith and live a true set-apart life for Christ?
 
(I did not mean in any way to offend anybody. This is something that the Lord has laid on my heart and something that I am very concerned about in our world today.)
 
~Ruby James 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham: Evolution vs. Creation

 
All I can say is "Wow." Both Mr. Nye and Mr. Ham did a wonderful job each presenting their views of how the world got here. I think Mr. Ham did a wonderful job in always referring to the Bible and presenting the Gospel whenever he could.
As I watched the debate, the only thing that I could think of was how sad it is that Mr. Nye has all these science smarts but when it comes to understanding something as simple as how God created the earth, he can't understand it.
I have heard many people say that unbelievers are just stubborn people for not believing the Bible. It is not that they are stubborn, the only way they will ever understand the Bible is when the Holy Spirit moves in their life and only then will they be able to understand the Bible. Ephesians 4:18 and 1 Corinthians 2:14 explain this wonderfully.
Ephesians 4:18
"Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,
 because of the blindness of their heart:"
 
1 Corinthians 2:14
"But the natural man recieveth not the things of the spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned."
Therefore, an unbeliever is spiritually blind when it comes to understanding the simple facts and knowledge of the Bible.
Our job then, as believers, is to do what Paul says in Acts 28:18 "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." We are to be boldly sharing the Gospel like Mr. Ham did.
My favorite part of the debate was the question/answer time. I absolutely loved when the two questions: "How did the atoms that created the big bang get here?" and "How did consciousness come from matter?" were presented to Mr. Nye and his answer was, "It is a mystery!" Then Mr. Ham simply replied, "I have a Book that explains it all...that Book is the Bible."
It is so sad that when Mr. Nye gets to Heaven, God will ask him why He should let him in , and Mr. Nye won't have a sufficient answer. All this book knowledge and smarts are just going to go with him into the fiery pit of hell.
So I ask you, what are you doing for the Lord today? Are you standing strong in what you believe? How are you answering the many questions that people throw at you about how to live day by day? We need more Mr. Ken Hams that will simply say, "I have a Book..."